bluesyemre

When I traveled to Nicaragua in April of this year (2013), I was so proud of myself that I was able to bring just a 30L backpack and my over-the-shoulder purse for the 8-day trip. It seemed easy enough; I have my go-to clothing for hot weather and I know what I like to wear when I travel. Not to mention that summer clothes just aren’t very big, so I could easily stuff everything I needed into that backpack. No checked bag fees, no waiting around at baggage claim, no dragging a suitcase down cobblestone streets (if you haven’t done this before, it’s quite comical- for everyone watching).

When I began to pack for my recent trip to Europe, I was confronted with a challenge. Our two-week itinerary included two separate flights on Ryanair. Ryanair is Europe’s cheap, Dublin-based airline, and they are cheap for a reason. They can get you in baggage fees, among many other things. There is an art to flying Ryanair, which warrants an entire blog post in itself. On Ryanair you are only allowed ONE carry-on bag; not one bag plus a purse or personal item, just ONE single carry-on, and it can only be 10kg. If you check a bag, it can be 15kg and it will cost you 20 euros as long as you pay when you check in online (otherwise it’ll cost you 40-60 euros at the gate- yes, seriously). The point of flying Ryanair is tosave money and not fall victim to the hidden costs. They are avoidable if you plan ahead by packing smartly rather than paying the checked bag fees. Which, by the way, between my husband and I we would have had to pay twice, each. So we accepted the challenge of attempting to fit everything we would bring to Europe in small enough backpacks that they would fit Ryanair’s strict baggage requirements.

http://thebudgetmindedtraveler.com/packing-list-for-europe/